5 Top Mutual Funds to Own From Janus Funds

You can build a set of diversified holdings from this one mutual fund provider alone

Janus Funds: Perkins Global Value Fund (JGVAX)

Janus Funds bills the JanusPerkins Global Value Fund (JGVAX) as pursuing “defensive global value.” The trio of managers that handle this fund have a mandate that allows them to go anywhere across the entire market-cap spectrum. In 2013, Lipper awarded the Class D version of this fund as the best global multicap value fund over a five-year period. It was the only mutual fund from the Janus Funds family to win an award.

Interestingly, Morningstar only gives the Class T version three stars compared to four for the Class D. That likely has to do with the additional 5 basis points on the Class T’s management expense ratio.

Unlike the Janus Venture Fund, JGVAX doesn’t have billions in net assets to invest. Nonetheless, it impressively managed to deliver a total return of 1.7% in 2011 — almost 11 percentage points higher than the MSCI EAFE index. This stat alone tells me the managers care more about preserving capital than hitting it out of the park. Though you can also see it in holdings such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

While the fund’s long-term track record isn’t much better than the benchmark index, it has managed to deliver positive results in nine of the last 10 years, which is one better than the index.

With about 41% of the portfolio invested in North America, this offering from Janus Funds provide investors with a good global large-cap mutual fund. Add a global small-cap to the proceedings, and you’ve got most of the bases covered.

At 1.03%, the Perkins Global Value Fund’s management expense ratio is considered below average for the category.